Cultural extravaganza includes poets, rappers.
By The American Bazaar Staff
BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA: A large-scale event, celebrating the poetry and music of south Asia, is set to light up Los Angeles on April 23 – the “Mehfil Massive: South Asian Religions Remixed Through Poetry and Music.”
Nine celebrated south Asian artists will take the stage, including some of the biggest names in the classical music, fusion, and poetry circles. Salman Ahmad, a guitarist and co-founder of Pakistani sufi-rock band “Junoon,” will be performing, as well as Bandish Projekt (Mayur Narvekar), a Global Indian Music Award recipient who is one of the biggest names in Electronic Dance Music (EDM). MC and producer Brooklyn Shanti – also known as the “Indian Bambata” by hip-hop star Afrika Bamabata – will take the stage, as will Sikh hip-hop artist Mandeep Sethi.
The event will also feature a performance by LA-based Gingger Shankar, the daughter of violinist L. Subramaniam and a relative of the legendary Ravi Shankar. She is the only person in the world able to play the double-violin, and she has played on the soundtracks of several major motion pictures, including 2004’s The Passion of the Christ.
Poets at the event will be Kazim Ali, the author of books like “Sky Ward” (2013), “The Far Mosque” (2008), which have been called “resonant with the poetry of Hafiz and Rumi,” according to the event’s press release. Bhanu Kapil, whose “books of poetry and hybrid forms exploring anti-colonialism have made her a darling of the experimental poetry scene,” will also read some of her work on-stage, as will Tarfia Faizullah – whose book Seam won the Crab Orchard Review First Book Award in 2012 – and Amarnath Ravva, author of the experimental memoir, “American Canyon” (2014).
“Along with bringing together artists of such high caliber, this event showcases the diversity of the South Asian community, featuring artists who trace their roots to Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka,” said a statement from Kaya Press, who is co-producing the show with the Visions & Voices Arts and Humanities Initiative at the University of Southern California (USC).
The event will be hosted by D’Lo, a Sri Lankan artist and comedian. The event, which is free, will take place at USC’s Bovard Auditorium. The school’s Dean of Religious Life, Varun Soni, has played a key part in bringing the event to USC, and is one of its organizers.
“Mehfil Massive is the biggest South Asian-focused event ever held at USC,” said Soni, in a statement, adding that the desi population is one of the largest demographics at USC.
For more information and RSVPs, click on the link below: